While U.S. Gold Cup prospects Teal Bunbury and Juan Agudelo were jousting on Twitter in a race to add followers, Houston Dynamo forward Will Bruin was injecting himself into the national team conversation with a historic hat trick.

The 21-year-old striker, who has never represented his country at any level, lacks the name recognition and pedigree of Bunbury and Agudelo. But he served notice in last Friday’s game against D.C. United that he’s a forward worth watching.

The first goal came in the fourth minute and showcased Bruin’s technique and composure. He collected Geoff Cameron’s through ball with a deft touch that enabled him to shoot in stride, then calmly slid it past charging D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid.

In the 41st minute, the 6-2, 194-pound Bruin demonstrated strength and resolve as he dismissed defender Perry Kitchen and attacked a cross from Brad Davis. Hamid had no chance on the powerful six-yard header.

“I think I bring both aspects, the physical part and the finesse part, to the game,” Bruin told Sporting News. “So I can go either way with both of those. I don’t prefer one or the other. A goal is a goal.”

Bruin’s third came on a contested header early in the second half, and made him the second-youngest player in MLS history to score three in a game. Houston won, 4-1, and climbed to 3-1-3 going into Wednesday night’s match against Colorado.For a Dynamo team that missed the postseason in 2010, it’s an excellent start. The same can be said for Bruin, whose four goals put him one off the league lead (and whose awkward celebrations inspired this “Dancing Bear” video from the club).

“Guy has a knack for goal,” Cameron told reporters after the game.

“It’s been a little more hectic than usual,” Bruin said of the attention that’s starting to come his way. “I guess that’s for the good.”

Whether or not that attention is overdue, however, isn’t something Bruin will focus on. “Control the controllables,” he said.

He got a look from the U.S. under-20 national team ahead of the last month’s U-20 World Cup qualifying tournament, but wasn’t selected for the side that fell in the quarterfinals. Houston wanted him, however. Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear traded up at the January draft to select Bruin with the 11th overall pick. Bruin said the club’s confidence in him was “awesome”, but that he refused to feel slighted because of his lack of an international resume.

“I don’t really think about that too much. Now I’m here, I’m just going to keep playing. My job is to put the ball in the back of the net. Hopefully I can. If (a national team opportunity) comes further down the road, I’ll deal with it then. For now, I’m focusing on playing here.”

Bruin’s soccer upbringing is quintessentially American (in contrast to Agudelo and Bunbury, who spent portions of their childhood abroad). Bruin starred for the Scott Gallagher youth soccer club in his native St. Louis and then for Indiana University, where he was national player of the year runner-up as a junior in 2010.

Not many born-and-bred American strikers have made a significant mark in recent years, although two recently-retired forwards did have St. Louis connections: Brian McBride, the first American to score in two World Cups, went to Saint Louis University; and former MLS MVP Taylor Twellman spent much of his childhood and his high school years in the city.

“They just think we’re big runners. Just kick it over the top and go get it,” Bruin said of the perception of American forwards. “We’re starting to come along where forwards are getting more crafty. Touches are getting better. Coming from St. Louis, we worked on a lot of technical stuff (at Scott Gallagher) ... and here at Houston, I feel like (Kinnear) does a really good job of working on the technical aspects of the forward, holding the ball up, taking those touches that can separate teams.”

Another successful American striker is Dynamo veteran Brian Ching, who just missed out on his second World Cup last summer. Bruin said Ching’s counsel has been invaluable.

“Just play confident. Don’t worry about what people say or do or think. Just let your game speak for itself,” has been Ching’s message, Bruin said. “He’s been telling me, ‘Just do your thing. You wouldn’t be here if people didn’t think you had the potential or the ability.”

The question now is, does Bruin (896 Twitter followers) have the ability to be a consistent scorer at the professional level? Can he join Bunbury (10,141 followers), Agudelo (9,938), and Jozy Altidore (still just 21 years old, but with 323,123 followers) in the group of young strikers vying for U.S. coach Bob Bradley’s attention?

“I’m doing what I can do,” he said. “Just kind of like Brian tells me, just let the play speak for itself. If people like it, they like it. If they don’t, they don’t.”